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In recent years, free digital world maps like OpenStreetMap (OSM) have become a vital instrument to support humanitarian missions over the entire world. In disaster management as well as the implementation of the United Nations Sustainability Development Goals (SDGs), geodata compiled by the volunteer mapper community open up new possibilities to coordinate aid interventions and carry out sustainability projects. The mapping data are collected either locally using a smartphone and GPS device or on the basis of satellite images. An international team of researchers led by geoinformation scientists based at Heidelberg University is studying the evolution of humanitarian mapping and its repercussions on OpenStreetMap.
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IMAGE: Left: Spatial distribution of all buildings added to OpenStreetMap since 2008; right: spatial distribution of buildings added through humanitarian mapping efforts using the HOT Tasking Manager. view more
Credit: Benjamin Herfort
In recent years, free digital world maps like OpenStreetMap (OSM) have become a vital instrument to support humanitarian missions over the entire world. In disaster management as well as the implementation of the United Nations Sustainability Development Goals (SDGs), geodata compiled by the volunteer mapper community open up new possibilities to coordinate aid interventions and carry out sustainability projects. The mapping data are collected either locally using a smartphone and GPS device or on the basis of satellite images. An international team of researchers led by geoinformation scientists based at Heidelberg University is studying the evolution of humanitarian mapping and its repercussions on OpenStreetMap.